The Founder of the National Unity Reconciliation and Development Party, which was later transformed into the National Unity Platform (NUP) party and sold it to a new management, Moses Nkonge Kibalama, with his other co-founder members, Ssimbwa Paul Kagombe, Luyinda Moses , Omony Delwilbert and Kasirye Joseph Emmanuel, have taken the current top management of the National Unity Platform, NUP, party including Kyagulangi Robert Ssentamu, the party leader, Rubongoya David Lewis, its secretary general, Ssenyongi Joel, Nyanzi Fred Ssentamu and the Electoral Commission for fraudulently amending the party constitution and changing its leadership.
Nkonge Kibalama told TV 10 in an interview that a group of people from the People Power Movement led by Kyagulanyi Ssentamu connived with the Electoral Commission and fraudulently changed the party’s constitution and demanded for a return of his party to him.
The National Unity Reconciliation and Development, NURD, party was registered as a political party on 29th December 2004 in preparation of the 2005 general elections and on 28th August 2019 Kibalama entered into a partnership with a group of youths from the People Power Movement led by Kyagulanyi Ssentamu who changed the name of the party to the National Unity Platform, NUP party but left the provisions of its party constitution unchanged.
In the original party constitution, the party president is the party flag bearer and not the leader of the party and the executive authority is vested in the party Vice president as the party leader and chairman and not any other person.
Upon the admission of the People Power Movement into the party, Kibalama adds, the seven positions including party president were filled in accordance with the existing party constitution of 2004 and the rest of the members were to be filled in the next meeting. The 34 members of the national executive commitment were elected and then presented to the Electoral Commission.
Kibalama further says that as soon as Kyagulangi Ssentamu, Lewis Rubongoya, Joel Ssenyongi and Fred Nyanzi joined the party, their ill intentions of grabbing the party and turning it into a private company with majority shareholding started as they conspired with the Electoral Commission and forged the original constitution with purposes of getting excessive authority over the management of the NUP party affairs.
He accuses some officials in the Electoral Commission of conspiring with the NUP people led by Kyagulanyi and swapped the original party constitution at the Electoral Commission records and replaced it with the forged one.
In the forged Constitution, the position of the Vice president as leader and chairman of the party were dropped and they created positions of four deputy presidents with the president being the leader and chief principal officer, yet he was supposed to convene and chair the delegates conference.
The president was to supervise all office bearers and suspend any member pending investigations. Kibalama says although he never had an official agreement with Kyagulanyi while letting him to be the party flag bearer, they had a verbal agreement for him to receive a payment in comparison to the seats the party had won in parliament.
This is not the first time Kibalama and group had taken Kyagulanyi and NUP party to courts of law demanding for the return of the party to his ownership. The first time he took the same case to court, he lost the battle. We are now waiting for the outcome of the new battle.
